1710 Thomas Augustine Arne, composer who wrote the masque Alfred, which included the song Rule Britannia, was born in London.

1832 Capt Charles Boycott, despised English estate manager in Ireland, from whose name the word 'boycott' is taken, was born.

1890 Vaslav Nijinsky, great Russian dancer, was born in Kiev.

1904 The first main-line electric train in the UK left Liverpool for Southport.

1930 Mahatma Gandhi began a campaign of civil disobedience in India.

1935 The 30mph speed limit was imposed in built-up areas in Britain.

1941 The original incident used in Compton Mackenzie's Whisky Galore occurred in the Hebrides when a cargo ship ran aground with her holds full of whisky. Islanders hid the quarter of a million bottles from Customs officers.

1945 Young Jewish diarist Anne Frank died in the Bergen-Bergen concentration camp.

1955 Death of jazz great Charlie "Bird" Parker, aged 35.

1969 Beatle Paul McCartney married photographer Linda Eastman, while George Harrison was arrested for illegal possession of cannabis.

1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat said he would not allow a single inch of Arab land to remain under Israeli occupation.

1987 The Government gave the go-ahead to the Sizewell B nuclear processing plant in Suffolk.

1992 Mauritius broke its links with the British Crown, becoming a fully fledged republic but remaining a member of the Commonwealth.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A woman held in an Arab jail for trying to snatch back her son had no complaints about her treatment there, British Consulate officials said. Former air hostess Sarra Fotheringham was due to appear before prosecutors in Dubai accused of trying to take her 10-year-old son Tariq back from his billionaire father.

BIRTHDAYS: Al Jarreau, singer, 63; Liza Minnelli, actress/singer, 57; Virginia Bottomley, politician, 55; James Taylor, singer-songwriter, 55; David Mellor, broadcaster and politician, 54; Jerry Levine, actor, 46; Courtney Vance, actor, 43; Julia Campbell, actress, 40; Graham Coxon, rock guitarist, formerly of Blur, 34.